I bet the damage to the harness is easily repairable but everything just gets replaced these days, add to that body guys are not electricians...
I was designing pipe tracers for the P-5 level of a high rise and mentioned to the engineer that at those depths the temperature is 50 to 70 degrees F at any time of years so why heat the pipes.
He replied that they get paid to do the designs and there is no risk responsibility for things going wrong. More money and less responsibility vs the opposite. No brainer.
Referring to the car and for the body shop is there any difference other than if they scrap the car they body shop gets nothing? No risk but also no income. The question is who takes the responsibility is something goes wrong?
Splicing wires isn't like the old days where you got those red, yellow, blue coloured ones from CTC and maybe wrapped them in PVC tape.
Today they use adhesive lined heat shrink, solder shrinks, mastics and the proper tools to get it done right. They make plastic heating cables that go in eaves troughs and they go for years without tripping GFIs. Some go
inside of water pipes.
I can splice a 16 gauge copper wire and run 70 amps through it for decades, no problem. (Special wire and circumstances) However I won't accept responsibility for anything and everything that might go wrong forever.
I could get my lawyer to draw up a waiver to relieve me of responsibility. The waiver would cost $500 to produce. The research on what to put into it would cost $25,000.
From what I read, the cost of the claim has little impact on future rates and it sucks to see a serviceable vehicle get scrapped over legalese. Depending on who the OP has spoken to, that snowball may already be rolling down the hill.
If this was a $1000 DIY would you take the gamble and do you have time to source the parts?
It's a moot point if insurance has already plugged in an increase for the next six years.
